His Biggest Failure
by Sorida
Summary: Another Songfic. Aren't you happy? Dib tried, he knew he did. But he failed and now he has to deal with the guilt. To How to Save a Life by the Fray. I don't own anything blah, blah, blah, everything belongs to their rightful owners blah, blah, you know.


Summary: Why did he do it? I tried, you know I tried. I don't know how to save a life. Songfic to How to Save a Life by The Fray. Character death.

A/N: I love this song...and this show!

Disclaimer: I think you all know that I don't own Invader Zim or the song How to Save a Life. If I did, I'd feel like a freaking genius.

Dib quickly approached the strange green house at the corner. He prepared himself for what was to come. He opened the door. "Zim?" he whispered softly. Dib cautiously entered the house. There were two things that stood out: the deactivated SIR unit, and the green corpse in the corner.

"AH!" Dib sat up in his bed and put his head in his hands. He was covered in sweat from the memory. Why? Why did this happen? Dib sighed, it happened a couple days ago. He tried his best, he really did. But now, his only friend was dead. He replayed that day in his head.

"ZIM!" Dib shouted. Zim turned around. His face was haggard and his body was unnaturally thin. It was late at night, nearly 11:00pm.

"What Dib?" Zim asked.

"We need to talk." Dib said.

_Step one, say we need to talk,_

"No thanks Dib." Zim turned to leave.

_He walks, you say sit down it's just a talk_

"Please, just sit on the bench and talk to me." Zim smiled slightly.

"Fine Dib, I'm coming."

_Smiles politely back at you_

_You stare politely right on through_

"I'm such an idiot!" Dib shouted into the night, "Why did I let him go left? Even after the argument..."

_Some sort of window to your right_

_He goes left and you stay right_

_Between the lines of fear and blame_

_You begin to wonder why you came_

_Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend_

_Somewhere a long and a bitterest end_

_But I stayed up with you all night_

_Then I'd know how to save a life_

"Zim, please listen to me," Dib said calmly, "I know best right now."

_Let him know that you know best_

_'Cause after all, you do know best_

"Please, you don't have to be like this. I know what you're going through, this is just like when I lost my mom."

_Try to slip past his defense_

_Without granting innocence_

"You need to talk about it. It's not right to keep it bottled up inside."

_Lay down a list of what is wrong_

_Things you've told him all along_

"I've said this before, please talk to me. I know this is painful, but you need to get it out."

_Pray to God he hears you_

_And pray to God he hears you_

*Please Zim, listen to me. Gaz and I still care for you.* Dib silently pleaded. Zim continued to stare at him.

_Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend_

_Somewhere a long and a bitterest end_

_But I stayed up with you all night_

_Then I'd know how to save a life_

It was getting late. Dib continued to talk while Zim remained silent. Finally, Zim spoke up.

"Shut up Dib! I know you understand my position! I'm aware of that! But your parental unit was taken from you differently than GIR!"

"Zim..."

_As he begins to raise his voice_

_You lower yours and grant him one last choice_

"Zim please. Listen to reason." Dib said quietly.

"Dib, this time you have to understand! My own leaders not only told me that the mission was a lie, but finally when I was feeling better, they take away my only companion! GIR was my friend and what do they do? They send the most deadly of SIR viruses to him! They put him in so much pain that I had to shut him down. And you know what he said to me before I shut him down?" Zim yelled, standing up from the park bench.

"What?" Dib asked. He actually was never told this part.

"He asked me, 'You'll fix me Master, right? I don't want to leave you all alone.' All I could do was tell him yes and I shut him down! I had to hit the SIR kill switch! I never wanted to! I wanted him to stay!" Tears ran down Zim's face. "I have nothing left now."

_Drive until you lose the road_

_And break with the ones that follow_

"Zim, you have me and Gaz. We're here for you." Dib said calmly and quietly.

"The difference, Dib, is that you have family. It doesn't matter if you or your sister care, I still have nothing to go back for."

_He'll either do one of two things,_

_He will admit to everything_

_Or he'll say he's just not the same_

"Dib," Zim said, "I'm not the same. I'm just not the same. You'll never understand." Dib had it.

"Fine Zim! You don't care about us, then I don't care what you do!" Dib yelled. Zim shrunk back a bit from the emotional blow. "Why did I come in the first place? I mean, you won't listen to anything I tell you and you deny everything!"

_And you'll begin to wonder why you came_

"If that's how you feel, fine. I'm leaving." Zim said as he got up from the park bench.

"Well, I'm going too!" Dib responded. Zim went left, Dib went right. After a couple minutes, Dib realized where Zim was going. "ZIM!"

_Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend_

_Somewhere a long and a bitterest end_

_But I stayed up with you all night_

_Then I'd know how to save a life_

Dib ran as fast as he could in Zim's direction. He completely forgot that to the left was the river. A red bridge ran across it nicknamed Suicide Point since many teenagers had jumped into the swirling whirlpools before. On the railing, Dib saw a small metal shell.

"Zim's PAK..." he whispered. Then he noticed the note on the PAK. It read:

Dib,

I have approximately 8 minutes and 15 seconds left. I'm going to be with GIR in less time than that. It was fun while it lasted.

Zim

"The base!" Dib ran in the direction of the strange green house.

_Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend_

_Somewhere a long and a bitterest end_

_But I stayed up with you all night_

_Then I'd know how to save a life_

Dib approached the green and purple house. He walked up to the door and knocked. "Zim?" he asked quietly. He opened the unlocked door and walked in. In front of him was a shut down SIR unit. In the corner, was a green body.

"Zim!" Dib shouted and ran to the corner, hope in his heart. But in his mind, he knew it was too late. Five seconds too late to be exact.

Zim lay in the corner, both arms slit. Green blood was still pooling out of the deep cuts, but life had ceased existing in the body long before. Dib knelt down next to the dead Irken and did something he'd never thought he'd do for Zim. He cried.

_Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend_

_Somewhere a long and a bitterest end_

_But I stayed up with you all night_

_Then I'd know how to save a life_

Dib was still up in bed. He ran a hand through his hair and began to talk to himself.

"I'm such an idiot." he said to no one in particular, "Why did I yell at him? What happened that night? I wish I could do it again, and do it right."

_Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend_

_Somewhere a long and a bitterest end_

_But I stayed up with you all night_

_Then I'd know how to save a life_

"I wish I could have saved a life." Dib's eyes watered as he closed them and lay back down. Try as he might, sleep wouldn't come to him that night, or any other night. "Zim, I'm sorry."


End file.
